New Look Routesetting. You’ll Dig It.

Routesetting in Somerville is getting a new look, complete with new leadership, new veteran team members, and a plethora of new volumes.

Photos by Simone Schiess

For the past few months, our route setting crew has been in quite the pinch. Down a few crew members due to injuries and other circumstances, there was quite literally two full-time setters doing the work of four or five, leaving the team depleted and overworked.

Needless to say, this was less than ideal for them and our climbing community. The good news: times are about to change. Here’s what’s happening.

So Many Volumes – We invested heavily in our routes with a large shipment of new volumes, some modeled above beautifully by Nicole. Expect to see these sprinkled throughout our walls over the next few weeks. To get the full impact, and hear what a difference maker these will be for our setting team, join us for .

Setting Diversity – You might have noticed that our bouldering circuits, in which hold colors correspond to problem difficulty, have recently changed. The setting team wants to increase route density — this means more climbs for climbing and a greater grade spread on each wall. Increasing density can make circuit setting difficult, it’s tougher to distinguish between problems unless there are plenty of color options. Our team is putting circuits on hiatus until acquiring new colors to add into the mix.

Core Team – Just recently, our core team was solidified with four major players, including a new Route Setting Manager. This experienced, badass, and talented crew takes great pride in their craft, and works ridiculously hard to provide an amazing product. Let’s meet ’em…